To Be Protected
by PrincessDisney19
Summary: Lily Potter was scarily intelligent; anyone who ever met her would say the same. So when her family is threatened by a Monster, she will do anything she can to save them; even if it means sacrificing herself, but there are always things that can't be anticipated...
1. Chapter 1

Hey Guys! I told you that I was reposting :)

This chapter isn't very different, just a paragraph tacked onto the end that I think makes it flow with the rest a little easier. But the following chapters and story, will be pretty different to the original that I was going with. I don't want to give to much away; but there will now be a sub plot! I'm quite proud :)

So pretty please review and tell me what you think! I could use the encouragement, ideas and criticism (Please keep it friendly and constructive, no flames okay?)

So, without further ado; Enjoy!

* * *

It was the perfect night for something to go wrong.

Howling wind was the backdrop to slashes of lightning and great rumbles of thunder; rain lashed at the streets and was unforgiving to all who dared venture outside. One particular house looked as though it was readying itself for catastrophe. At least, the people within were. This house, covered as it was in ivy and wild roses decorating the garden, looked entirely ordinary; however if one were to glance in through the windows on this particular night one would see a very strange thing.

A woman, with hair like molten copper falling past her shoulders, sat on the floor of what appeared to be a living room, though it was difficult to tell as all the furniture had been pushed to the walls, she was kneeling before a large empty bowl, two small containers and a paintbrush; an odd combination without paint or paper to accompany them. Swaying as though in a trance, she waved her arms around her gracefully, her fingers splayed and eyes rolling behind her eyelids; a movement behind her ceased her movement though her eyes remained closed.

A man with ebony hair and glasses stood in the doorway to the kitchen, a child no more than a year old held securely in his arms.

"Are you sure about this Lily?" The man addressed the woman.

"It's the only way to ensure our son lives James, and if done correctly, we will live too." Lily's voice was soft, and yet it radiated confidence and her belief in the necessity of her actions. "Bring him here. Come, and kneel across from me James. Help me save our son." James didn't show any sign of hesitating. He walked across the room to kneel before his wife. The mother of the bundle of joy he held in his arms. The child they were risking everything for.

"How do we do this?" James' was uncertain; he didn't know what this ritual would do like Lily did. He hadn't done the research like she had done. Smiling, Lily looked up at him; he gazed into her emerald green eyes, the same eyes that he saw when he looked at his son. No matter what she said, he would trust her; he would follow her to the ends of the earth. He would do anything to protect his family.

"We mix our blood with Jade, to symbolise our love for him, and Carnelian to aid in the magic shielding and protection. We're going to forge a shield James, made of our own magic and life force to protect him. With the magic of the stones and our magic combined we will draw the runes Eihwaz, to give the shield strength, Sowilo, to give our life force, and finally Algiz, to ward off evil; to shield." Lily's voice did not weaken as she spoke, she did not show that she was afraid; for she wasn't. "Rituals are a personal act James, they are invoked to do many different things, but they all do the same thing; call on ones will to reach a goal. We will call on our will and magic to protect our son; that is our goal. We must trust in the magic, in our magic and we must sacrifice to do this. That is why we must use our blood; something must be sacrificed." In the dim light created by the moon and lightning outside, James looked at the woman across from him. He had always thought her beautiful, thought her intelligent, thought her worth everything. At this moment, she had never been more to him than she was in this moment, not even when she had given him an heir and son had she been so magnificent to him as she was now, bathed in moonlight with her eyes flashing with the determination of a lioness to protect her cub.

"We had best get started then, we don't know how long we have." Lily reached high into the air, summoning a dagger from upstairs. It was long, with an ornately decorated hilt, but the details were lost on her as she held it firmly in her hands.

"I call on magic from the earth, the air, the water and the flames.

I call on your strength to protect my child,

I draw on your powers to feed his life,

I call on your favour so that his enemies shall feel his might,

I sacrifice myself so that this is true.

I call upon you, I call upon you.

So Mote It Be!"

With the last note of her words still ringing in the air Lily slashed her arm open with the dagger, letting her blood flow freely into the bowl before her. She looked up at James, her eyes bright with the magic she had invoked. James took the now bloody dagger from her hands and lifted it himself.

"I call on magic from the earth, the air, the water and the flames.

I call on your strength to protect my child,

I draw on your powers to feed his life,

I call on your favour so that his enemies shall feel his might,

I sacrifice myself so that this is true.

I call upon you, I call upon you.

So Mote It Be!"

And just as Lily had done, James slashed the dagger through the air and across his arm, adding his own blood to the bowl. Magic was glittering in the air so concentrated it was visible. Lily picked up the paintbrush, whilst James removed the lid from the containers. He emptied the first, full of sparkling Jade dust, and emptied it into the bowl as Lily began to stir as though it were a cauldron.

"So Mote It Be" Lily whispered, the bowl and its contents beginning to glow, casting an eerie light across her face. James lifted the last container, filled with the dust of the Carnelian stone, and tipped it in with a final whisper of;

"So Mote It Be."

Lily stirred for a moment, and then when the glow reached a near blinding point, she began to paint. She began to paint runes onto her child. Sowilo on his forehead, Eihwaz on his right hand and Algiz on his left, and finally, she dipped her hand in the mixture and pressed it against his heart.

There was a blinding flash of light, and Lily was thrown back from her position touching her son. James struggled up from his own kneeling position, still clutching a slumbering child to him as he hurried to ensure his wife was alright. Lily moaned from her position against the wall, she was certain her ribs had cracked at the force of the blow.

"I'm alright, bruised but fine, how's Harry?" James moved his gaze from his wife, now sitting up against the wall cradling her ribs, to Harry.

"He's fine; the marks remain, but barely." He looked once again at the woman who never ceased to amaze him. She smiled tiredly at him.

"The marks will remain until they are needed." Her voice was quiet, breathless. James felt his heartbeat quicken as he knelt by her, his free hand winding through her hair.

"Lily? Are you alright?" He didn't recall her mentioning that the ritual would have this effect on her.

"I'm fine, just tired; my life force and magic is being used to protect him after all." She smirked at him, clearly teasing. "The ritual takes what it needs to protect from me, and I give it freely, that is what was sacrificed. Our blood allowed for the anchor that keeps my magic flowing to him, and it shall remain that way until the task is done, or I am dead. And if I do die before it been finished, then my magic and soul will stay with him, protecting him until I am no longer needed." James gazed in awe at her; her tired eyes staring at him defiantly, daring him to say that what she had done was the wrong thing, that such a thing as binding her magic to him was dark. But he didn't. How could he do something that would hurt her? The woman who was ready to give up everything to protect the child they had made together? The child they both loved dearly.

Harry woke then, bright green eyes opening wide to look around him. They settled on his mother.

"Ma!" James laughed as Harry struggled to loosen his grasp and go to his mother. Lily smiled, and opened her arms wide for him.

"Hello Munchkin, did you have a good sleep?" James gently set Harry on her lap, his small hands going into her hair almost immediately. Lily laughed fondly as she tried to loosen his grip.

A sound outside disrupted the happy scene; a sound that did not belong to the storm. James tensed from his position near the kitchen, as the unmistakable sound of boots made their way closer to the front door. He glanced fearfully at his wife, seated on the floor, still too weak to move from the exertion. He looked towards the stairs, calculating the chance of him getting both her and Harry to his nursery before whoever was out there reached them.

A new sound reached his ears. A slithering noise, as though something was sliding along the ground. He paled. Voldemort was here, and he'd brought his pet snake.

James ran for Lily, but it was too late; the door was blasted off its hinges in a haze of red light and a figure stepped into the house. Tall, with red eyes that scorned all they looked at, Voldemort gazed at James standing before his family and laughed.

"If you wish to die then by all means remain there. But all I want is the child. Move aside and both of you will be allowed to live. Surely you can have another? You are not so attached yet, barely a year old. You shan't miss him." Voldemort's gaze was cruel and James knew that he would not keep his word; their only chance was the ritual now.

He turned to face Lily, question clear in his eyes. She smiled and nodded at him, and so he walked to the kitchen, and hoped that she was right; prayed that she was right.

Lily stared into the eyes of the monster that was threatening her family, and was surprised that she did not feel anger, or disgust as she had expected to; no, all she felt was pity. What must he have gone through to think that this was the only way? Who must have betrayed him for him to act out at all others the way he did? She did not know, and so all she could do was cradle her son in her arms and quiet his fears.

"You will step aside?" His voice was hoarse and rough, and Lily cringed at the sound.

"No, I will not."

"Very well then Mother and son shall die together; how very fitting." He lifted his wand, and spoke the words that all wizards and witches feared.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Many things Voldemort expected to happen; the seemingly weakened Witch would jump up fight, or the husband would return. What he did not expect was a silvery form of Lily Potter to leap at him from the body of her son, and so all he did was stand there and scream as the spirit tore through him, shredding what remained of his soul and tearing his flesh from his bone, and the hissing cries of his familiar was the last thing he heard.

Cold wind blew across Godric's Hollow that night; lifting the remains of smoke up and over the rest of the town. The air was thick and still charged with magic, and within the house almost destroyed by magic a man lay unconscious and a child lay clutched against his dead mother's chest.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey!

Once again, this chapter really isn't very different; there are new cut off points but that is pretty much it. The third chapter is where things will get very different and I'll start introducing more characters and other things. Please review! :)

The streets were still wet from the storm that had rocked the city two days before when James Potter next ventured into public. The scene that greeted him at Diagon Alley was unlike any he had seen in the last year, when the war had gotten so bad that people were too afraid to leave their homes, but now there were people everywhere. Women bustling their children from shop to shop collecting the supplies they hadn't been brave enough to venture out for, men marching steadily towards Gringotts and then to which ever store caught their fancy, children and teenagers running down the cobbled street towards Zonko's.

James smiled, he was after all happy that he could walk down this street again without being reminded of ghost stories and haunted towns devoid of life; but without Lily it all seemed rather empty. He didn't know where to go, Lily had always been the one to figure out shopping and all that, he didn't have a clue; should he go to Madame Malkins for baby clothes? Or Gladrags in Hogsmeade? An assortment of small clothing caught his eye, the window for a shop call Twilfitt and Tattings had children's clothes.

James sighed, it wasn't baby clothes, but it was closer than anything he'd seen so far. Pushing the thin door inwards, he stepped into the warm, inviting space. Unlike Madame Malkins, which was the only place he had ever shopped before, the shop was very open with circular racks of clothing evenly spaced around and comfortable looking stools sitting before a row of curtains; changing rooms no doubt. Pedestals held animated models of different sizes modelling outfits. Almost everything in sight, as far as James could see, was for girls.

A cheerful young witch with blonde hair pulled into tight pigtails bounced up to him, pale blue skirt fluttering and the Twilfitt and Tattings logo on her breast let him know that she worked there.

"Hi! My name is Kristy, is there anything I can do for you today?" Her smile never wavered, though he thought for sure that it would. Surely men didn't come in here very often? If at all.

"Uh, I hope so. I am looking for a place that sells baby clothes? My wife usually did all the shopping, and I don't know where to get him more things, most of our house was destroyed a few days ago; including his nursery." He must have looked pathetic, he thought; a grown man not knowing where to buy clothes for his own child. The girl surprised him though by beaming at him.

"We have a very extensive range of children's clothes, sir, ranging from infants all the way to teenagers. What sort of things were you looking for? We keep them in the other room." She began leading him towards a door that was rather cleverly concealed behind a display of ball gowns; he had not even seen it.

The sight that greeted him in the next room was shocking. He had never seen so many clothes before. More circular racks of glittering dresses, shorts, trousers and shirts were everywhere; shelves with neatly folded underpants, blouses and shoes that were in colours he didn't even know shoes came in.

"Uh, I didn't really have anything in mind for him. He just needs a bit of everything I guess." Kristy smiled again, pity in her eyes.

"She really did everything huh?"

"Well I helped change him and everything, so I'm not completely helpless. But anything that had to do with buying things for him, yeah, she did." She must have been able to tell that it was a difficult subject for him; whether because of his watery eyes or just intuition, he was glad when she started asking questions and bustling about the space.

"So how old is he? Height and weight?"

"He's just over one year; uh he's up to my knee maybe? I have no idea about weight, I'm sorry, I'm not much of a help." He had never felt quite so silly before. Here he was, blundering about how tall his own son was. He sighed, once again glancing around the place. There were smaller pedestals, with smaller models, but there were still ball gowns.

"That's okay, most of our clothing comes with automatic resizing, though even the ones that don't can have that added for a little extra." While she was talking she was walking around the racks and picking out pieces of clothing. "So, for his height and age, I'll get size 3, and if they don't fit then they will resize; though they should fit just fine. What is his colouring?"

James jolted out of his thoughts when he heard the question directed at him. "He has black hair like mine, and he has green eyes." He had to start paying more attention to his surroundings, he was an ex-auror, and he had better training than this!

"He sounds adorable! Well, according to that I think he would look nice in reds, blues and greens, and black." She had collected a heap of clothes in those, and a few other colours, and was now heading back into the other room. "Shall I ring these up for you?"

"Oh, yes please. Thank you." She smiled. It was as though she were used to stumbling men who had no idea what they were doing or where they were going.

"It will be rather expensive, we use only the best materials here and the charms aren't cheap either. That won't be a problem I trust?" She was smiling as she said it, and he knew that she knew he wouldn't mind the cost. His clothes were clearly of the expensive variety, so she had assumed he'd be fine with spending a lot.

"Yes, that's fine. Price is no object for my son." Perhaps it was a slightly snobbish thing to say, but the girl didn't seem to notice it, and truly, James didn't mind sounding snobbish when what he was saying was true. He would give everything for his son, he would give everything to his son; but he would ensure he didn't turn out spoiled.

The cost of the clothes was expensive, almost 400 galleons, but James merely smiled at the girl and handed her his Gringotts card. Now slightly wide eyed, as only the truly wealthy had gold Gringotts cards, she swiped it and handed it back to him.

"Have a lovely day Lord Potter. I hope you will return for things for your son." She smiled as he left. Obviously he shouldn't be surprised that she had figured it out; everyone else was happy at the war ending, and yet he was moping about his deceased wife. Not to mention his card had his name on it.

Apparating back to Potter Manor, where he had taken Harry after waking up two nights ago.

_Flashback_

_He came slowly back into waking world; the explosion of magic that Lily created had blown him backwards and through the wall. The house was practically in ruins. He ran inside._

_"Lily! Harry!"_

_His screams were answered by Harry; screams of his own echoing through the destroyed house._

_"Da! Mama gone!" James went cold. This couldn't be happening, it couldn't be! She said that everything would be alright, she said she would live. He raced into the house, ducking under the fallen beams that had kept the roof up just a few hours ago; he entered the living room that he knew Lily and Harry had been._

_The sight before him brought tears to his eyes. Harry, his wonderful son, hair wild, eyes glowing and the Sowilo rune still visible on his forehead, was leaning over the body of his beautiful wife. Her hair was splayed around her like a copper halo, her chest still in death. Harry was sobbing, his tears falling onto her cheeks and soaking into her hair; James' heart broke as he heard the words his tiny son was whispering._

_"No, mama, come back. Bad man gone."_

_James reached out to him gently._

_"Come on son, she's gone." It broke his heart all over again to say the words, and even more to pull him away. Harry screamed, kicking and scratching to stay with her, clutched against her breasts._

_"No! Mama! COME BACK!"_

_James pulled him into his arms and flung himself backwards, away from the body. Cradling Harry in his arms he whispered to him;_

_"It's alright Harry, mummy loved you. She'll never be gone; not really, she'll be with you for as long as you need her to be, and even when you don't. Daddy is here, I'll protect you." He had then stood up, told the aurors already appearing that if they needed him he would be at Potter Manor. Then he left._

_Flashback end_

James sighed. It got no easier to think about. Cries from upstairs caught his attention. He hurried up the steps towards the nursery. He had left his family elf, Selwa, with Harry, she had watched him when he was a child, and he trusted her. But his son needed him.

Harry was in Selwa's arms; crying and asking for Mama.

"Hey buddy, mama isn't coming home." He tried to be gentle, he tried to make him understand; but how do you make a one year old understand death? He didn't know. For now, all he could do was hold him, and comfort him as much as he could.

_Light flooded her eyes as she opened them. Confused, she blinked and glanced around, drinking in her surroundings, or what she could see of them. Everything she could see was white, and everything she couldn't see was white. How she could tell what was something and what wasn't she didn't know. She was sitting on a hard surface; perhaps stone? She could see a house in the distance below her; it seemed very familiar to her. With a jolt her memories came flooding back to her._

_A man; dark hair and laughing eyes hidden by glasses._

_A wedding; wearing a beautiful dress and kissing her new husband._

_A child; just like his father, but with her eyes._

_A monster; threatening her happiness._

_A spell; her only chance to save the best thing she had ever given the world: Harry._

_Lily's eyes watered as she thought of her family. That house, it was hers, it was theirs. It was destroyed. _

_"No... It should have worked, why is there so much destruction?" Lily shuddered "Maybe it didn't work…" a light began to form in the centre of the place she was, whiter than the others it drew her eyes. Within it she saw something that brought a smile to her lips; James, and Harry._


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! I know it's been ages, I am sorry, but Uni is getting hectic. Anyway, there is a tiny bit of language in this chapter (Like, a single word) figured I would warn you just in case there is someone sensitive reading this.**

**Please leave a review and let me know what you think, and I will update as soon as I am able :)**

**Enjoy x**

Sirius Black sat in the gutter outside the home of his best friend, or what used to be his home. The scorched mass of wood couldn't really be called that anymore. The Aurors had left, they hadn't told him anything, and he had been left alone to stare at the remains of a house that held so many good memories for him. For all of them.

He didn't know whether anyone had survived. He knew that James was a strong man that wouldn't be caught easily, but he also knew James loved his family more than anything else in the world; he would have stayed to protect them. Tears that he hadn't known he was holding back started to fall down his cheeks, the salty liquid leaking into his mouth. Sirius didn't know how long he sat there, how long tears for his friends fell from his eyes; he didn't even know when Remus got there. One minute he was sitting alone in a gutter, and the next he was hauled into the strong arms of a friend. A friend grieving just as strongly as he was.

"I want to kill him Remus." Remus didn't need any clarification on who he meant. Peter Pettigrew, the last member of their group from school. He had been the secret keeper. He had betrayed them. Sirius' grief was slowly being overcome by his anger.

"You can't Padfoot, think of what James and Lily would think of you." They were harsh words, but Sirius wasn't really listening. He was thinking of all the ways he could kill the rat, and where he could find him.

Remus was worried, Sirius wasn't responding to him. He had done this before, just before pranking Snape in school; Remus hadn't thought that was a good idea either, but Sirius hadn't listened. He'd been in detention for half the year.

_Lily wasn't doing anything. She had been watching James and Harry for hours, they were sleeping now, James had Harry wrapped up in blankets and snuggled up against his chest. It warmed her heart to see him handling his grief and putting it aside in order to care for their son. It reminded her of why she had agreed to date him in their seventh year; he had grown up._

_But it had gone blank, or white, depending on what she was thinking, and now she wasn't doing anything. He wondered if she had only been allowed a small glimpse of her family, if so that was rather cruel in her opinion, or if something was happening._

_Suddenly, a new picture appeared before her; it was her house, or what was left of it, but what caught her attention was the two men standing on the sidewalk. Sirius and Remus. Lily could just tell by looking at them that Sirius was thinking something stupid, and the worried look on Remus's face just confirmed her suspicions. Sirius made to move away, Lily wasn't having that, without thinking she reached forward and grabbed his shoulder. There was a rushing sound and then she was surrounded by colour, and sounds. _

_She was standing behind Sirius._

Sirius blanched. There was something cold on his shoulder. He spun around, but there was nothing behind him except for Remus, who looked just as confused as he felt.

"Sirius?" He ignored him, there was something here, he could feel it. Lily looked at her hand, it was sitting on Sirius' shoulder, and it was obvious that he couldn't see her, but he could definitely feel her. Could she affect him? She, rather violently, lashed out at him. With her hand anchoring his shoulder, her other hand flew straight into his nose. While there was no satisfying crunch of a broken nose, which would have happened if she were alive, he did reel back with a cry of pain. Lily smirked triumphantly.

"That was for thinking something stupid!" She dint really think he would be able to hear her, so she was very surprised when he glanced around frantically.

"Lily?!" she had never heard him sound so broken, or lost. Her heart went out to him, and she drew her pale, ghostly arms around his shoulders.

"Don't worry Sirius, James and Harry are fine. They are at Potter Manor, go to them, and leave Peter to the Ministry. Don't jeopardise my family's future. He's going to need you." She wasn't sure what she meant by that, would James need him? Even though they had always been great friends, it had always been Sirius who needed James the most. Would Harry need him? Of course he would, he was his godfather. She paused, Harry would go to Sirius if anything happened to James. Horror tore through her, something would happen to James.

The rushing sound she had heard before sounded again and when Lily opened her eyes she was back in the white landscape.

_Glancing around, Lily realised that that she was in the spirit plane the place where ghosts with unfinished business on earth were suspended between worlds. Angrily, she stamped her feet, it was childish but it was the only thing she could do to release anger; there was no sound here, so she couldn't scream._

Sirius glanced around again, he had heard her, and felt her, he was sure of it. But she was gone. Remus grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Sirius! What is it?" the sheer panic on Remus's face wasn't something Sirius had seen in a very long time, not since their sixth year.

"I felt Lily, I heard her. S-she hugged me, told me that James and Harry were at the Potter Manor." Remus was shocked, he believed Sirius of course, it wouldn't be the first time that a recently deceased person stuck around for some reason or other, but this meant…

"L-lily's dead." Sirius turned to him tears in his eyes once more. Lily had been the only person he had ever met who knew what he was before even becoming his friend. He hadn't known she knew, and when he had finally scrounged up the courage to tell her, she had smiled at him and said she had known for about a year; they had only been friends for six months. She had accepted him, without any judgement at all.

"Yeah, Lily's dead. I'm so sorry, it just isn't fair… That bastard will pay for this!" Sirius's rage was back, but this time it was focused on a different target. "How dare that, that snake face do this! He had no right!" he was pacing, throwing his arms around, and his magic was reacting. Remus had to duck out of the way of projectiles that Sirius was conjuring and banishing in random directions without any thought.

"Sirius, we need to go to James. I can't even begin to imagine what he's going through…" His rampage stopped as quickly as it had started.

"Oh god, your right! He's got no idea how to look after a baby! He's going to need help!" Remus almost grinned. Almost.

"Sirius, you have no idea how to look after a baby either." Sirius's small smile faltered.

"But you do right?" The overly hopeful tone in his voice was amusing as it was heartbreaking.

"Yeah, Padfoot, I know a bit about looking after babies." The effect on Sirius was instantaneous.

"Great! To Potter Manor!" and he was gone with a loud pop.

Remus sighed, this was going to give him more grey hairs than being a werewolf ever did; he could just tell, but with another pop he was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Remus felt the need to put a leash on one of his oldest friends for the first time in his life. Usually, he didn't mind the rather reckless attitude of Sirius Black, but right now it was grating on his usually so gentle nerves. They were going to Potter Manor; they needed to see James. Remus himself was genuinely worried for his friend, but Sirius was practically frantic.

He wasn't sure what was going through Sirius' head, but he knew it wasn't good. James had always been Sirius' best friend, and Sirius had always been James', it was the way it had always been. When he had met them they had already been really close; he hadn't thought he would ever be as close to them as he had become, and he definitely hadn't seen their acceptance of his condition coming. That was the one thing that had really convinced Remus of their friendship, they hadn't run and told everyone the second they found out; they had sought him out and asked him about it, and then they had asked what they could do to help him. No one had ever done that before.

Peter, on the other hand, had seemed afraid from the moment he had found out; Remus had always been able to smell the fear on him. Not that he had blamed him at all; really he had been surprised that he couldn't smell fear on the other two. Just thinking of Peter and what he had done had the wolf clawing to get out and find the traitor and tear him to pieces. That was the part of himself that he had never been able to accept; the part that wanted to claw and kill people that attacked and wronged his pack.

That was one of the main things he did like about being a werewolf, the sense of Pack he had. He had formed connections with his friends, and they had become very much like family to him; he could feel them when they were far away if he focused and he could tell when one of them was in danger and where they were. He had felt the attack the minute it had started, he had felt the spike of fear in two of his most precious people and the wolf had howled at him to move, to get to them, but he hadn't reacted. He had never fully trusted the werewolf instincts, but he would never knowingly ignore those instincts again.

Sirius gazed up at the Manor, it truly was a magnificent house; it was three stories high, with arched windows and balconies. Rose bushes framed the house and the stairs leading up to the front door was lined in various colours of them. Sirius smiled, but fought back tears, those had been Lily's idea; it had been the first thing she did when they had moved here. He remembered her kneeling in the dirt, James standing on the front steps laughing at her and telling her she could do it with magic and Lily laughing right back that it was more fulfilling if she used her hands.

He closed his eyes, the tears were coming and he couldn't stop them. Remus caught up to him then; he took one look at his friend, looked at the roses and gathered him in his arms, tears in his eyes too. Lily had been large part of all their lives since they were eleven and they she and James had started dating and she had become part of their family, and now she was gone.

"Come on Sirius, James is going to need us." Remus' voice was sad; it was hard to drag Sirius up the stairs, as he was transfixed on the roses. The door to the manor was large, and just as grand as it always had been. If he was being perfectly honest, it bothered him that everything was so normal, that it was raining as though the world was mourning, that there weren't any visible cracks in the universe to show that something terrible had happened, but he guessed that was how the world kept turning; it acted like nothing had happened.

"Yeah, he will. You remember how he fell apart when his grandfather died?" Remus winced. Yeah, he remembered alright; James had gotten the news half way through their fifth year, and he had gone into complete shock. It was like he went into a dream world where he hadn't died, and he got letters every few days and he could pretend everything was okay. It hadn't been healthy; Madame Pompfrey had had to take him into the Hospital Wing for observation until he had gotten over it.

"Dear lord, I hope it isn't that bad again." But they both knew it would be; it was his wife this time. The woman he had loved since he was twelve; there was no one he was handling it well. The real question was; how well was he hiding it? "Come on Padfoot."

The inside of the manor was just like they remembered, but they didn't have long to admire it; Selwa, a lovely little house elf that had snuck them cookies when they visited over the holidays as kids, appeared almost as soon as the door was opened. She looked incredibly embarrassed that she hadn't been there to open the door for them.

"Selwa is sorry sirs; Selwa has been awful busy with young master Harry." Remus looked at the poor elf; she had clearly been run off her feet.

"That's perfectly alright Selwa, where is James?" Selwa had helped raise James, and he had always made sure to take good care of her, make sure she didn't work herself to hard; so where was he? Remus felt dread settle in his stomach.

"Master James be in bed, sirs, he not be feeling very well." She looked as though she would have rather not answer the question.

Sirius jumped in, much to Remus' disapproval.

"Can we see him?" He was bouncing around like a two year old on a sugar rush.

"O-oh course sirs." She looked uncertain "He be in the room across from young master Harry's nursery, he's been getting up when he cries, even though he ain't feeling good." She looked proud and worried all at once as she said it; honestly Remus was worried too, clearly James wasn't handling things very well, but he was still determined to be there for his son.

Sirius nodded, almost to himself.

"He was always a good father." Then he sped off up the stairs; leaving Remus to run after him, shouting for him to calm down in case he frightened Harry. Obviously, the thought of scaring his beloved godson has Sirius sliding to a stop in the middle of the hall; causing Remus to run straight into him.

They stayed there, in a heap of limbs, attempting to get up for several minutes; the moment was broken when they heard a soft giggle from behind them.

Sirius glanced up from beneath his fringe, and from between a leg and an arm that he couldn't tell where his or not, and stared into a pair of deep green eyes. Harry sat on the floor between the half open door and the hallway, keeping the door open with his little body. His eyes were as wide and green as Sirius remembered, and his mouth was quirked into an adorable little grin. Sirius grinned, and pulled himself on the arm he had been looking through, which had in fact turned out to be his.

"Hey buddy, where did you come from?" Remus, who struggled up from the floor beside him, was still amazed at Sirius' attitude change whenever Harry was around; sure he was still loud and playful, but he was more serious and controlled and mindful of his actions.

"Got out bed." Harry was really very talkative for his age, it had surprised Remus when he had first heard him speak; he had only been a few months old after all. Remus thought, that with the right upbringing Harry could turn out to be quite the powerful, and intelligent, young man.

"I see that you got out of bed, but how did you do that?" Remus was quite surprised at the question from Sirius, usually he wouldn't care, he would just be happy that he was seeing Harry. The tense situation they found themselves in was changing them all, he supposed.

Harry clambered to his feet, reaching up to take Sirius large hand in his tiny one, only managing to grip two of his fingers, and led him into his nursery.

Remus followed, and the sight that met them both was both heartbreaking and endearing at the same time. Harry's nursery wasn't as big as most children raised in Pureblood families were, but it was big enough to hold his crib, a dresser, a sofa and rocking chair; it was the sofa that currently grabbed their attention.

James was sprawled across it, his hair was untidy and he looked as though he hadn't changed his clothes in a few days or so, there were several bottles of butterbeer, and they suspected that if James hadn't had Harry to worry about their would be bottles of firewhisky instead, and he just looked tired.

Harry's bed was unmade, indicating that the boy had somehow managed to get out of the crib himself when he had heard them in the hall. Sirius walked over to James, quietly and carefully assessing the man's health.

Remus crouched down in front of Harry, smiling softly at him.

"Harry, can you tell me how you got out of your crib?" Harry blinked at him, and then looked over at the crib "Yes, how did you get out?" Remus was surprised when Harry toddled back over to the crib, and then squeezed his eyes shut. But what really shocked him was when Harry started to rise off the floor and into his crib.

"Sirius!" He was quiet so as not to wake James, but the urgency in his voice had Sirius turning around so fast he nearly spilt himself all over the floor.

"Holy Merlin! He isn't supposed to be able to do that at his age!" Remus could have slapped him.

"No, he isn't, but well done stating the obvious."

Sirius was about to reply when they heard a groan from behind them.

"Dada!" Harry's happy squeal was soft, but still easily heard.

"Yeah buddy, daddy's here." Sirius and Remus were both worried about their friend, but the smile that lit up James' face when he looked at Harry told them both that everything was going to be okay eventually.

_Sorry about the long wait guys, I had Uni and it got a little crazy :) But I am now off for the next 2 weeks and I hope to get some writing done. This chapter is shorter than others I think, but it is an important one I feel, there are little bits of clues about Harry in it; I know it might seem as the story goes that I make Harry too Awesome (which isn't really possible) but it is just how I think he would have developed in a loving environment, so no flames for it! :)_

_Enjoy, and as always, please review and tell me what you think :)_


	5. Chapter 5

**_Yay! Fast update! Told you I had time to write now! :) _**

**_This chapter I really need you guys to review and tell me what you think; a lot happens and I need to know what people think, okay? So, press the review button at the end :) Please x_**

**_The more feedback I get the faster the next update will be xx_**

**_Enjoy! (And review!)_**

Albus Dumbledore sat in his ornate chair in his beautiful office, surrounded by the equally concerned faces of the headmasters before him. He had just ended a fire call that was very concerning to him; it appeared that James Potter was not coping well with the death of his wife. Sighing, Albus stood from his chair and paced around the office, glancing at the different objects that he had scattered about the room; many of them were truly magical artefacts, but there were also many that were merely for show, a trick you could say.

He couldn't really think of anything that could help James, losing a family member, especially a wife, was always hard and everyone dealt with it in their own way; he did not want to force James into accepting the death of Lily and move on, it could cause horrible problems for the man. A sudden thought had his eyes twinkling like mad; Minerva could help, she had always had a special way of thinking.

Without a care for the time, it was quite early in the morning; he set out for her quarters. He only realised the time, just after 6am, when he knocked on the door and was greeted by a very disgruntled Minerva McGonagall in her night clothes. Albus went bright red; a feat which later Minerva would tease him at length for, but right now all she was doing was glaring.

"And what, might I ask, are you doing here Albus?" the tone she spoke in left no doubt in his mind that if she didn't think it worthy of her time at this minute she would have no reservations about closing the door on his nose.

"I received a troubling fire call Minerva, about James." Her facial expression morphed from anger and annoyance to concern instantly.

"James? Whatever is the matter?" It was surprising to Albus, and the boys themselves, but they had somehow managed to become her favourite students somewhere in between the pranks and late homework; and she felt almost motherly towards all of them now.

"It appears that he is having difficulties accepting Lily's death, and he refuses to leave Harry's side to deal with his loss." Minerva closed her eyes, the pain of the loss of a young woman whom she thought of as a daughter was still a painful thing to feel, despite the time that had gone by.

"It has been nearly a year, and they choose to tell us this only now? We could have helped sooner!" Albus smiled fondly at the woman who was now walking about her quarters, waving her wand as things flew into an open bag at her feet.

"I believe they probably think James would be mad at them if they called for reinforcements." Minerva sniffed, clearly not pleased with the idea.

"Well, he certainly won't be pleased when I turn up for a few days then will he?" Albus nearly laughed then; Remus had called him merely hoping for an idea of how to help get James back on his feet, they were going to get Minerva McGonagall in full mother mode for a few days; that is far more than they bargained for.

Minerva looked at him, a small smile on her face, a confident glint in her eye that let him know that she would take care of the problem. Albus was entirely trusting of her ability to do that.

_Lily watched with utmost happiness as her favourite teacher arrived at Potter Manor; she had been so worried at James this past year, and there was nothing she could do to help him or any of the others. She couldn't even count how many times she had tried screaming at them to call the very woman who had now turned up. If anyone could get through to James it was Minerva._

_The past year hadn't just been sad and frustrating though; Lily had been able to witness her son grow. She had seen him perform his first bit of advanced magic, heard him speak his first full sentence and seen him ride a broom for the first time alone. If she had been there, she would have hexed Sirius to hell and back for it, but she wasn't, so she just laughed with terror in her heart. _

_She had thought she would feel anger, or resentment for being forced to watch her family struggle to heal without her, but she didn't; she felt only happiness that she was able to watch, happiness that Harry was alive, and that her ritual had worked. Though she still hadn't figured out what she was doing here; she had seen the afterlife and she had rejected it; she knew that. So she knew she was somewhere between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead, but she wasn't a ghost. _

_Lily screamed with the frustration; why couldn't she do anything? _

Selwa opened the door to Manor, a large smile spreading across her face as she realised who had arrived.

"Professor! Oh Selwa is glad to be seeing you!" She beckoned the woman inside quickly. "Master James be lying down, and sirs Sirius and Remus be playing with young Master Harry in the garden." Minerva was surprised at hearing James was not with his son.

"James is not with Harry?"

"Oh, Master James been running around with him all morning Professor!" her voice lowered "Master James be getting tired easily you see, Sirs sent him inside to rest, they did." Minerva nodded in understanding, it was indeed something that Remus would do, Sirius too if he were worried enough; which no doubt he was.

"Thank you Selwa, I will make my way outside then." With a last smile at the elf, she left her bag in the foyer and headed down the hall that she knew would lead to the terrace. Her shoes made a clacking sound on the floor as she stepped over to the balcony; she could see young Harry running about on stumbling legs, Sirius in his animagus form galloping around him in circles. The child was laughing, she could hear that from where she stood, and she smiled. It was good to see that the child had a happy life, despite all the horror that plagued him and his family.

"Remus!" She called out to her past student. He spun around from where he was laughing, watching Harry and Sirius play. His face lit up with surprise, but he smiled and hurried over to her.

"Professor! What are you doing here?"

"Well, I hear that someone fire called the headmaster very early this morning; he decided to inform me of the situation and here I am to help solve it." The relief on the man's face would have amused her if the situation were not so serious. "And really, there is no need to call me Professor, I haven't taught you in years!"

"You'll always be our professor though." She smiled at him, and then turned her attention to the laughter that was coming from further down the path. Sirius was walking towards them, a smile on his face and a small child on his shoulders.

"Minnie!" she smiled at the boy whom she thought of like a grandson and the name she allowed only him to use.

"Hello dear, how are you?" Truly, she knew he was fine; it was his father she was worried about.

"I'm fine, Minnie. Dada not." Harry's voice was small and still held the baby tone; but he was very insightful for such a young child.

"I know Harry, but I am here to help your dada okay?" the smile that broke out on his face brought one to her face as well; she really couldn't bring herself to be sad in front of this beautiful boy.

_Lily cried silent, silvery tears as she heard her baby say his dada wasn't okay. She hated that she wasn't there for him, that she wasn't there for James; she was so proud of him, and the way he was trying to be there for Harry. She had always told him he would be a great father; she was only sad that she couldn't be there with him._

_The image she was watching was beautiful; her favourite teacher was holding her beloved son to her chest and looking at him as though he were her entire world. Lily was so happy that Minerva had come, that Albus had sent her; she would be able to whip James into shape, she knew it._

_The whiteness surrounding her suddenly swayed from side to side, leaving Lily trying to keep her balance; that had never happened before. Curious, she looked around, had anything changed? The bare walls surrounding her were still bare; the floor was still white and the ceiling still high. There was no difference she could see._

_A soft sound from behind her caught her attention. A door was forming in the white stone; it was white, with swirling silver runes marked all over it. The handle was the Sowilo rune; the rune she had marked on her son's forehead. Cautiously, she stepped up to the door, worried that it would disappear as fast as it had appeared; but it didn't._

_She placed her hand on the handle, it was solid beneath her silvery fingers, and she turned it. _

Minerva felt at peace as she looked into Harry's eyes; they were so very green. The darkness of his hair contrasting beautifully with them, he truly was a gorgeous child. A glint of something on his forehead caught her eye and she moved his fringe out of the way. There, in the middle of his forehead, was the Sowilo rune; Minerva would recognise it anywhere. It was faded, slightly red in colour and seemed to glitter slightly when he moved about.

"_It was to protect him."_

The voice startled Minerva. It came from behind her, but there was no one there. Harry smiled at her, her fear easing.

"Mama here!" Minerva was shocked at his words; Lily was here? The voice…

Minerva spun around again, staring at nothing and trying desperately to see something, anything at all.

"Lily?" her voice was tentative, almost afraid of receiving an answer.

_"The rune, it was to protect him" _Minerva froze, and then a bright smile lit up her face.

"Oh Lily, it did protect him, he is alive!"

"_I know, but it destroyed James."_ Minerva felt horrible, listening to the once self assured, vibrant Lily speak in a tone so sad.

"You saved your family Lily and there is nothing wrong about that; James understands, he just needs time." Minerva was desperate to make her understand how special she was, that what she had done was the right thing.

_"I know he does. But it is time that he may not have." _Minerva worried at that; Lily had always had her ways of knowing things she shouldn't, of knowing things before anyone else.

"What do you mean Lily?"

_"Something is coming; I don't know if I will be able to save them both." _Lily's voice was fraught with fear, her tone pleading. "_Please, help them!" _the cry was accompanied with the vision of a silvery face; Lily's face.

Minerva reached forward, trying to grab her. She touched nothing but air.

"I promise Lily, I promise." There was no reply this time; Lily was gone.

_Lily screamed as she was pulled back through the door, away from Minerva, and away from her baby. She opened her mouth and tried to scream, but as usual there was no comforting sound of her voice to steady her; just the suffocating silence that had plagued her for the last year._

Minerva ran to the Manor, determined to see James and ask him about the rune on Harry's head; he had to know something of what they, of what Lily, had done that night.

Harry tugged at her hair as she was rushing up the stairs, she looked at him, and the rune on his forehead standing out now that she knew it was there. It worried Minerva, as people who had rune marks were often cursed, or blessed, and she had to know why it was there; who had put it there. Was it a dark mark that had been placed there when evil had struck him? Or was it blessed mark, showing the world that he was loved and protected?

She stopped, panting, outside James' room; she could hear that he was awake, that Remus and Sirius were in there trying to cheer him up. Determinedly, she knocked twice on the door before opening it.

"Professor!" James struggled to jump out of the bed he was laying in.

"No need to get up dear, I know you must be exhausted." James gave her a look of thanks. "I need you to tell me everything you remember about the night Voldemort attacked you James."

He looked at her, horrified. Remus and Sirius too, looked upset at the request; though she could see the curiosity burning in their eyes.

James didn't know how to answer the question; in all honesty he had been blocking out as much of that night as he possibly could.

"I need to know James, there is still a mark on Harry, I need to know what happened so that I can help him." It was the right thing to say; Minerva knew it, James knew it, Sirius and Remus knew it. James looked at his son, clutched protectively in his teacher's arms; she had always been more of a mother than a teacher to him really. He would tell her.

"I-I didn't know what she was going to do, but from the m-moment we found out about the prophecy she w-was trying to find something. She was always working, busy reading and researching different things." He paused, trying to remember. "There were different stones she was researching, and runes. I don't know what they were for." Everyone in the room was listening, Minerva more than anyone else.

"Do you remember what stones you used James?"

"J-jade and C-carnelian." Minerva pursed her lips; the Carnelian stone could indeed explain how Harry had survived that night. "Lily had me buy them in powdered form, it was easy getting the Carnelian, it was harder to get Jade."

Minerva nodded absently, Jade was a powerful stone, especially when powdered, it was difficult to get your hands on it.

"How did you manage it?"

"Lily said she could get some, I don't know where from." Minerva was upset, Jade and Carnelian didn't account for the possibility of Lily interacting with her in Spirit form at all.

"And you are sure you didn't use anything else?"

"Yes! Why?" James looked so defeated and sad; her heart went out to him.

"Because, I saw her; and neither of the things you have described, can explain how." James looked shocked, as did the others. Sirius glanced at Remus, before stepping forward.

"I-I saw her too." Everyone in the room whipped about to face him. "Well, I didn't see her exactly, I felt her, and s-she spoke to me." Minerva stepped forward, clutching his arm.

"When!"

"Just after she died, I was outside Godric's Hollow, with Remus; I was thinking of going after Peter and then she hit me and told me not to!"

"Well, that definitely sounds like Lily." James sat up in his bed, a smile on his face. "If she's here, then I am sure we'll all get answers eventually."

Minerva nodded.

"Yes, she always managed to find a way."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six has arrived :) Please review and tell me what you think; this is an important, and possibly weird, chapter xx :)**

**I really hope you like it!**

**Let me know!**

**_Enjoy!_**

_Lily sat cross-legged in front of the picture of her family; they were all sitting around James' bed, talking. Harry was running around the comforter running into people's laps, laughing. Lily smiled; as long as Harry was laughing everything she did was worth it. She was so focused on the image, that she didn't notice the growing light behind her until it was so bright it was blinding. _

_She spun around quickly; she was on her knees, shielding her eyes from the bubble of light that was still growing in size and brightness. She was confused, in the entire time she had been here there had never been anything like this; she was scared. _

_Suddenly, the light died down, and she could see inside the bubble; it was much like the one she saw her family through, only this one showed her another family. Confusion gripped her as she saw a woman standing over a stove, and a man reading the paper at the breakfast table. They seemed perfectly ordinary. She saw the woman lift her head and call out, she couldn't hear her, and then she saw a little girl come running into the room. She couldn't have been older than four, she had brown curly hair to her shoulders and bright brown eyes; she was adorable._

_Lily smiled at the image, how she wished to be in a scene like that again. The bubble began to shrink, disappearing altogether in a few moments. A crack startled her out of her musings on the girl, spinning around once again to stare into the orb that showed her the thing she desperately needed to see; only to see rain._

_She was confused. Rain? No one she knew was outside, not that she could see. Then, drops of water began to fall through her; Lily looked up, the angry clouds above her were not there only seconds before, puzzled, she looked again into the orb, knowing there must be a reason for this interaction of the realms. _

_She stood, stepping through the water on the ground, almost pressing herself completely against it; through a window in the Manor she could see Minerva running around, James looking worried. Then she saw Harry; he was running about in the rain._

_How had he gotten out there? Panic seized her, her baby was out in the middle of a storm and no one knew where he was! Desperate, she pushed against the orb, she needed to get through it; and then the rushing sound she had heard when she saw Sirius was there and then she was outside the Manor. Without pausing for a second Lily ran for where she had seen Harry; she was so focused on reaching her child that she didn't notice that her feet were not hitting the floor, she was gliding._

_Harry was sitting in a patch of flowers; they would have been tall and beautiful at any other time, but now they were heavy with water and lying against the grass. Harry was sobbing, tears mixing with the rain, it broke Lily's heart. She reached him, and fell to her knees before him. How was she to get him inside? Could she touch him? Tentatively, she reached out a hand; it brushed against his cold cheek._

_Lily could have wept out of happiness at touching her baby again, but she had to get him inside. She scooped him into her arms, cradling him against her breasts like she had the day he was born, and she ran for the Manor. This time she did notice the lack of her feet touching the ground. _

_Hoping that it would work, she willed herself up into the air; and she found herself flying. She headed for the window that she had seen James through. When she reached it, it was closed, but not locked; she pushed against it with all her might._

James startled when the window blew inwards; but what was more surprising was the figure he saw there. He heard the gasps of everyone around him, heard them stop searching for Harry, but he didn't care; his entire world was focused on the figure at the window, clutching their son.

She was as beautiful as he remembered her; her hair floated around her as it had always done, though it was no longer red; perhaps for most the appearance of a ghostly form of their wife would be disturbing, perhaps even ugly, but to James she was even more beautiful than she had been in life. She wasn't fully visible, her legs faded into a haze of smoke and her hair faded at the ends, her arms were very clear to him though, as was the precious bundle she clutch in them.

Harry was drenched, his eyes were puffy and he was sleeping. James smiled; of course Harry had found his way outside, how had he not guessed that? He had always loved to be out there; of course his mother had known.

"Lily…" James voice was breathy, as though he couldn't breathe quite right.

"_James…" _the sound of her voice brought tears to his eyes; he had thought he would never hear it again. She glided towards him, gently passing Harry to him. She smiled her eyes both sad and happy at the same time. _"I love you…" _then she was gone.

_Lily took a deep breath of the sweet air of the living realm, and James' cologne, before once again being stuck inside the white prison of the Spirit Realm. Tears were flooding her eyes, happiness at the ability to touch her son, to tell her husband that she loved him. She looked at her hands; silver, see through, but able to touch the one thing that was most important to her._

_Hope at being able to reach her family pulsed through her; her once green eyes burning with a silver fire once again. Lily clenched her hands at her side, she would find a way back to her family, and she would find a way to help them. She would._

_At almost the exact moment of her silent promise to herself, there was a creaking noise. Startled, Lily looked around. The only other sound she had heard whilst she had been here was the crack of thunder when the living realm had collided with this one; but this time there was no rain, and there was no sign of the living realm at all. There was not even an orb._

_But the creaking sound continued; it sounded like stone grinding on something, against something. Perhaps more stone, but she couldn't see anything moving. Nothing about the room she was in had changed at all. Then, suddenly, the wall closest to her burst outward like a door; a rush of cold air hissing past her fast enough to blow her off her feet. Lily was confused at the pain that coursed through her shoulder as she landed; she was dead, how could she feel pain? The question blew from her mind as what she was seeing crashed into her awareness; a library. She was lying before a great library._

_She lay there for long moments, staring almost sightlessly at the tombs stacked on seemingly endless shelves. She needed a library, that she knew; if she wanted to figure out where she was and why she was stuck here, why she could reach out to the living world and yet not be corporeal she would need to research. Why had this been granted? How had this been granted?_

_Lily stood on her shaking legs, and cautiously she took a step forward, and another, and another till she stood just inside the entrance to the library; when she was sure it would not disappear she rushed inside. The books looked much like she did; smoky. They seemed mostly sold, but faded into a smoky haze at the edges. Her first clue to knowing that these books were not real; yet there were titles that she recognised, that she had read and they were the same, so they clearly had their base in reality._

_Confused yet pleased, she began to search the shelves for something, anything that could be relevant to the question she wanted to answer. Before she could go any further than the second shelf, she heard the sound of children laughing. The sound echoed of the walls of the library, resonating out from the room she had fled from moments ago. _

_Venturing back into the white room, she saw nothing; no orb, nothing that the sound could come from. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. A ghostly apparition of two people appeared before her, a man and a woman; the woman she had never seen before, she had flyaway blonde hair, large glasses and multiple shawls draped over herself, the man though, the man she recognised; Albus Dumbledore was seated across from the woman, a cup of tea in his hand. The woman was talking, though what she said she could not hear, and it was clear to Lily that he had lost interest in her words, until she dropped her tea cup and went rigid. The next words she spoke Lily could hear quite clearly;_

_"The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the dark lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"_

_Lily knew those words, they were the same words Albus Dumbledore had come to her and James with, telling them of the danger, of the misery that was trying to plague her family. The woman had Dumbledore's complete attention in the image, waiting for her to come out of her trance, but before she did she spoke again;_

_"The ninth month will bring his champion… fierce she will be and protect him she must for without her he fails and the world will crumble in dust…together they will stand and together they will fight…their powers together the dark lord shall smite."_

_Lily rocked backwards as though she had been struck; she had never heard those words before. Why would he hide them? What did it mean? Did it have anything to do with the girl she saw in the orb? The one thing Lily knew for sure as she turned back to the library, determination rushing through her, was that she would find the answer._


	7. Chapter 7

Hey! Fast chapter again; I have the time and I can't stop writing! :)

I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please review to tell me what you think xxx

Enjoy!

A little girl sat on the swing in the park by her house. She only lived a street over, and her mummy said she was allowed to go by herself; this brought a lot of pride to the eight year old. She was reading, which was of course not very uncommon for her, and swinging absently; this was one of her favourite things to do after school. Her mummy used to bring her, but she didn't like it as much because she would insist on not bringing her books, she liked it more now that she could bring them and read on the swing.

She looked up from her book, big brown eyes peering curiously around the grassy area, scanning the streets for any signs of people. When she found none, the girl snapped her book shut and ran as fast as she could into the line of trees beside the park.

Once inside, she pressed herself against a tree trunk to catch her breath. She wasn't really much of a runner. Once she could get enough air into her lungs to breathe properly, she began to walk deeper into the trees; she knew she had to be careful, her mummy always told her she wasn't allowed in the trees, so she had to make sure she didn't get any dirt on her school dress.

When she reached a point about ten metres from the park, she stopped and took a deep breath before falling to the floor. She sat cross-legged, expression calm as the trees swayed around her. She felt utterly at peace here, there was no one around to judge her, and there was nothing around to frighten her. The smell of the trees was intoxicating to her; in here there was no smoggy smell like there was nearly everywhere in town, the only other smell that compared to it in her mind was the rain. Oh how she adored the rain; her mummy had to forbid her from playing in it, so instead she sat in her window seat with the window wide open.

She was alone here, and she was alone in those instances, and she felt far better alone than she did around people. Sometimes she wondered if she would ever meet someone her own age that could understand her, that would want to understand her. Somehow, she knew she would; she just had to wait.

Harry Potter stood just inside the library doors. He hadn't shut them after running inside, as they had already been open, so instead he had run to the shelf just beside the door and he was hiding behind it. He peeked out from his hiding place, to see Sirius peering around the corner. Hurriedly, he pulled himself back behind the shelf; his mind already racing with ways to get out of the library without being seen.

His eyes lit up as he remembered the passage way he had found a year ago. It was hidden in the wall behind a large armchair in the back corner of the library, and it had a passage that would lead him to the upstairs balcony. Sneaky grin on his face, he began to dash for the chair; he stopped when he heard Sirius enter the library; he wasn't being very quiet; Harry could hear him muttering about hiding godsons. Grinning, he kept going.

The armchair was big, and squishy; it was on old thing and ugly as anything, but Harry wouldn't let anyone change it, it was his favourite chair in the Manor. He didn't really know why, but he felt a presence whenever he was sitting on it, whenever he was near it; it calmed him.

He'd caught his dad sitting here once, he'd been upset, hadn't been reading, hadn't told him why he was there; he just was. He'd gotten up and left quickly, he couldn't bring himself to tell Harry that it had been his mother's favourite chair too.

Harry shook himself, and tore himself away from the comforting feel of the chair and threw himself behind it. He felt along the wall for the latch that would open the wall; it didn't take him long to find it and flick it open. He could hear Sirius getting closer, and he was glad that the passage entrance was low and narrow; Sirius wouldn't be able to see it or him from where he was.

The wall slid open, revealing the drab stone floor and walls that lay beyond, and Harry slid inside on his stomach without a second thought. Once inside, he sat up; the passage was larger on the inside, and he pushed the door back into place. Sirius would never find him; he'd spend hours in the library trying to find him.

Harry swallowed his laughter as he crept away from the library; Sirius would still be able to hear him after all. He followed the stone passage along for a few metres, and followed the passage when it turned sharply to the left and upwards. The walk became more of a climb, and he was panting with the effort of going up; he was on his hands and knees now.

Harry grit his teeth and pushed himself up the last few metres of the passage, stopping to catch his breath at the top where it levelled out just below the other door; the exit. He felt around until he found the latch, flicking it open like he had with the other door, he pushed it open, and heaved himself up and out.

The fresh air that wafted through the balcony was a very welcome thing; Harry lay on the floor beside the door for several seconds, just sucking it up. Eventually, he had the presence of mind to sit up and push the door closed. No need to let everyone in on his secret.

Standing, Harry walked over to the railing, staring out over the green fields that went for miles around the Manor; he was so lucky to live where he did. Remus had told him that his mum had felt the same way, had coveted the greenery and peacefulness she felt when wandering the fields; Harry always felt close to her when he was out there. He'd been told throughout his life that his mother loved him dearly, that she would always be with him.

He believed them, believed them wholeheartedly. He had seen her. He didn't remember many things from when he was little, but he had a vague recollection of a storm; being stuck outside in the rain, being alone and scared, and then a silvery woman had picked him up and saved him. He knew it had been her, he knew it. It wasn't the last time he had seen her; it was usually around Halloween that it happened, he would be doing something and a sound would startle him, he would look up and she would be there. Sometime it was just her head, or her eyes, others it was more of her; never had it been her entirely like it had been that night.

He didn't know how, and he didn't know why, but he had kept it to himself; like a secret he and his mum shared. It was very precious to him.

_Lily smiled. She was keeping one eye on the orb, on her son, and the other on the book in her hands. She gave up on reading, and moved her gaze up to fully look at her son. He was turning into such a handsome young man; messy black hair like his father, though he had her eyes. Nothing made her happier. _

_He had such a serene expression on his face, she wondered at what he was thinking of. _

_"_I love you mum_." Her eyes filled with tears, oh how she loved him; one day she would make it back to him, she swore it on her magic. She had believed herself dead, with no anchor to anything, but she had been wrong. She was dead, but through her research she had discovered another use of Jade in the magical world; it drew forth protection from the spirit realm. _

_As long as her son lived, she would be anchored to him, would be able to protect him in times of dire need. She was able to go to him when the veil between the realms was at its weakest; Halloween. When she had first discovered it she had been overjoyed, and she had used each opportunity since to see him, to contact him. _

_Her research was going well, but Minerva was struggling. She didn't know where to start, as she didn't know what Lily had been trying to do, what she had done. Lily wished she could go to her, to help her; but she wasn't entwined in Harry's life yet; and that was all she could influence._

_She was still getting flashes of a girl; this confused Lily, she would clearly have an impact on her son's life, but she could not understand how. She thought back to the prophecy she had heard spoken to Albus Dumbledore and thought perhaps this girl was the protector it spoke of; it was the largest possibility. The girl had grown since the first time she had seen her; she was eight or so now, a little older than Harry; would they meet at Hogwarts perhaps? Lily hoped so, the girl was a lovely thing, she was mild mannered and determined; always fighting for what was best for others, though she seemed to find it difficult to fight for herself._

_Lily frowned at that, everyone needed someone to fight for them, and this girl had no one. She hid her troubles from her parents, so they could not; it was as if she were waiting for something. Or for someone._

_Startled by the thought, Lily stood from her chair, knocking the forgotten book to the floor as she raced for the library. She tore through the shelves, she knew there was something in here about what she had been thinking; she had seen it._

_Finally, she found it; it was a large white book a foot thick. Grabbing it off the shelf, she opened it greedily; searching for the page she knew was there. When she found it her eyes drank in every word, memorising everything. _

_…the soul calls to that which makes it stronger, it will call from the moment it comes into existence till the moment it is snuffed out. Those who find the other half of their souls are called Soul Mates; but there is more than one kind. The most common is where a soul finds another soul that fits what it wants almost perfectly, the next is where a soul seeks a soul that calls out in the same way it does, and the last and most rare is the kind where two souls were made together and then split in two. This last type is called the Ultimate Soul Bond, and is so rare that it has only been recorded once in the last 2,000 years; the couple that recorded the phenomenon reported feeling lost and alone for most of their lives, but only realising it once they were together. _

_Magic has a way of reaching for magic that completes itself; thereby bringing the world into balance through the joining of like magic's. A person destined to be a part of such a bond shall seek their other half as long as they live, and they will defend their bonded to the death…_

_Lily stared absently at the orbs before her; there were two now. One showed her Harry, the other showed her the girl; both were alone, and both were staring into the distance._


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hey everyone :) Thank you to everyone reviewing, it means a lot :)**_

_**Here is another chapter, it might be a little while till the next one since I just started Uni again and it will start getting busy with assignments and everything; but I will try and update (Hint; the more people who review asking for an update or just saying they like the story will make me want to write more).**_

_**Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter :)**_

Hermione Granger wasn't like most other girls, at ten she was an early riser, avid reader, and extremely determined. Her parents were proud of course, though they did wish that she would get out more often with her friends; though Hermione didn't have any. She could never quite figure out why she told her parents that she did, but she didn't know how to explain to her parents, especially her mother, that she just felt more comfortable alone.

Hermione wasn't bullied, sure there were a few names she was called but everyone else had a few as well; she just preferred to be by herself. Her self-inflicted isolation worried her teachers as well; they would often try and get Hermione to talk about what she was reading, and why she stayed inside during her lunchtimes instead of going outside with the other children. Hermione never could answer them.

It was nearing Christmas, just a few months away, and Hermione's birthday had just passed; she didn't have a party. It wasn't because she wasn't allowed one, or that she couldn't pick who to invite, she just hadn't wanted one. That, more than anything else, worried her parents; it pushed them into finally taking her to see a therapist.

"You're what?!" The shriek was high pitched and extremely loud. Hermione sat at the kitchen table glaring at her parents.

"We have booked you an appointment with Dr Connors, really Hermione; it's for your own good." Her father spoke softly, trying to ease his daughter into seeing reason.

"How dare you! I am perfectly fine; I don't need a shrink!" to say that she was furious would be a gross understatement; she was a perfect student, never did anything wrong and yet they dared to treat her like a troubled child.

"Hermione" Her mother's voice was firm. "You are going to see Dr Connors tomorrow, at 11 O'clock and that is the final word on the matter." Her face was lined with smile lines; though at that moment she wasn't smiling.

Hermione stood up, her chair falling over with the force, and ran up to her room. Slamming the door, causing several picture frames in the hall to fall off the walls, she threw herself on her bed. Hermione hadn't cried in a long time, never really; she hadn't ever had a need to, but now she felt as though the ground was crumbling beneath her feet. She had never thought of herself as weird; never had she thought there was something wrong with her, she just didn't like being around people.

She had never told her parents about the presence she felt sometimes, nor had she mentioned any of the things she could do; she knew she was strange, but her parents didn't. So why were they suddenly so concerned? She knew what therapist's were, what they were supposed to do for people; help them with mental issues. She didn't have any, and she wouldn't let anyone tell her otherwise.

Wiping her eyes with her small hands, she pulled on her pyjamas and got into bed. She fell asleep staring out the window, looking at the stars.

Harry Potter shot up in his bed, sheets tangled around his legs like an octopus and sweat sticking his pyjamas to him. He hated that dream; he had had it every now and then for about a year now. It started out as glimpses of something, muffled noises and blurry images; but nothing he could decipher, now though it had changed. He could see every detail now; there was a girl, she looked about his age, maybe a little older, and she just sat there staring at something; he didn't know what, just knew that he couldn't see it.

She had brown hair and eyes, she was rather pretty, but the thing that struck Harry the most was her eyes; they looked so sad. She looked lonely. It had never changed; he would try and try to talk to her, to get her to hear him, to respond to anything. He yelled, he jumped on the table, he threw things at the walls that surrounded them in the dream; but she never responded, her eyes didn't ever stray.

It freaked him out. He hadn't told anyone about it, even though his dad had commented on how tired he was. He just didn't feel like talking about it; he felt like it was private, personal. He sighed as he fought his way out of his bed, grabbing at the sheets and trying to wrestle them off of his legs, he stumbled out of bed at last, struggling to keep his balance.

He looked around his room, noting the walls looked just like the ones from his dream. That was the one thing that changed about it; sometimes it was somewhere he recognised, others somewhere he didn't. He swore that several times it had been somewhere Muggle; he even thought one of them might have been at Hogwarts, though he himself had never been.

He trudged to his balcony, staring at the stars that still twinkled in the sky above him; it was still late, really late. He could find out what time it was, but then he would feel bad about having woken, so he didn't bother. He stayed there, staring at the sky; the inky darkness gave him a sort of comfort that he couldn't get anywhere else. He didn't know what it was, the twinkling happiness that stars seemed to radiate, the calm air of the night, or the fact that no one knew he was awake to bother him. Harry was by no means a loner, nor did he like to be alone; but often he felt it. He felt lonely even when standing surrounded by his friends and family; it just felt like something was missing. He had always, for as long as he could remember, attributed the feeling to his mother not being around; but recently he realised that it felt more like something was waiting for him than something be missing, being gone.

But the thing Harry liked the most about the night, was the fact that anyone could be looking at those stars; anyone. He felt connected to the entire world when he stared into the abyss that was the night sky; how many others were doing exactly what he was in this very second, how many people were feeling lonely? That is what he liked the most.

_Lily struggled with the scene of her son startling from sleep and staring into the sky like it was his only way of finding answers to all his questions. She had seen Hermione drift off, only to wake up hours later, also drenched in sweat. She too, was staring into the sky from her window seat. Lily turned to Hermione's orb and she took in the girl's appearance; tears dried on her cheeks, hair bushy and wild, lips quivering, but Lily never thought she had seen her more beautiful. _

_Hermione was strong, she was determined, and this trouble with her parents wouldn't last long; Lily was convinced that the second Harry and Hermione met all their loneliness would evaporate. _

Hermione walked alongside her mother, her feet stomping on the pavement as though it had done her a personal wrong at some point. Her mother kept giving her disapproving looks and telling her to stop acting like a child. But Hermione was a child, and she was determined to act like it for as long as she pleased.

Dr Connors office was within a large building with big glass doors; Hermione fought the urge to scoff out loud, though didn't bother suppressing her eye roll.

"Honestly Hermione, the least you could do is pretend to care about your welfare!" Hermione knew that her parents were getting tired of her behaviour; she had never acted out before. She didn't care though, they were treating her like a mental patient and she wouldn't have it.

"There is nothing wrong with me!"

Her mother didn't reply, just stepped through the doors and into the building; dragging Hermione with her. Instantly, Hermione noted the receptionists. There were several of them, though she supposed that kind of made sense since there were several companies within the building; though shouldn't they have been on separate floors?

Her thoughts were cut off when her mother dragged her to a desk half way towards the elevators.

"Hello, my daughter Hermione has an appointment with Dr Connors." Hermione could never get over how snooty her mother could sound sometimes; like just now.

"Of course, head on up to Level 4 please." The woman's voice was sugar sweet and her smile was obviously fake, Hermione felt the need to smile at her.

Her mother didn't even thank her, just walked to the elevator and pushed the button labelled Level 4. Hermione was expecting carpet and calming posters and things when they got there, but when the doors opened she was greeted by more glass walls and metal or concrete floors; she couldn't quite decide.

The office was clean, and Hermione hated it. She sat down in one of the uncomfortable benches in the waiting room while her mother went and spoke to another receptionist. She sat there glaring at the floor until her name was called. Looking up, she saw a woman in a grey pencil skirt, white blouse and heels looking at her; Dr Connors.

Huffing, Hermione stood and followed her into her office. It was the same as the rest of the building she'd seen; cold, clinical and easily hated. The couches didn't look comfortable and she was loath to sit on one, but of course Dr Connors gestured for her to do so. She slumped into the nearest couch, staring at the ceiling.

Dr Connors sat down carefully, observing the girl across from her. Her posture told her that she did not want to be there; she was practically lying on the couch, having thrown herself onto it. Clearing her throat, she began the session.

"So, Hermione, my name is Dr Connors, but you may call me Susan if you wish." The girl didn't even twitch. "I hear from your mother that you are a very lonely child." She sat up so quickly that it was shocking.

"I am not lonely!" the venom in her voice was astounding.

"Okay, do you want to explain to me why your parents feel differently?"

"They just don't get me! I like to be by myself, I don't feel comfortable around other people." It was said very calmly, but it caused a frown to bloom on Susan's face.

"Do you feel uncomfortable with all people or just those your own age?"

"Everyone." Susan pursed her lips, considering what to say; but Hermione didn't say another word for the entire session.


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry it has taken a while, Uni is getting heavy; I will try to update in the next week or two. I appreciate all your feedback, so please leave a review. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

xxxx

Minerva McGonagall paced around her office, racking her brain for any hint or clue that would tell her what she so desperately needed to know. No matter how hard she thought, how hard she looked; she couldn't find anything. Sacrificial Magic, after years of research she was now sure that this is what Lily had used that fateful night, she just had to figure out how exactly.

Sacrificial Magic bordered on dark magic, and its use had fallen out of favour centuries before. Information on the subject had been taken by the Ministry of the time, full books had been burnt and paragraphs had been blacked out of more generic tomes. Where Lily had even found references to it she had no idea; Albus had helped her, his contacts overseas had plentiful resources on the subject, and she had read till her eyes felt as though they would fall out and her mind felt as though it had been ripped out and melted in a cauldron.

One particular book, _Souls and Sacrifice, _had found its way to her from Asia; it was a very obscure book, and extremely illegal in Britain. It was also the book she believed Lily had read. Not only did it explain self-sacrificial magic, but it went enormously in-depth in regards to soul magic; which would explain Lily being able to appear in a physical form. What it didn't explain was why Lily did not appear when being spoken about, or during rituals; soul magic is a deep, Will based magic and as such requires concentration and pure Will to work, and she simply didn't believe that Lily didn't want to be able to appear to her family and son.

She had found references to a type of soul magic that relied on outside factors in order to sustain itself, such as runic or arithmetic equations and magical substances, and the spell would last as long as the specific Will of the castor was still functioning. The book didn't go in-depth enough for her to know for sure if this was the method Lily used; but the mention of Runes and magical substances made her positive it was.

Harry scar she had realised was the Sowilo rune which meant Life Force, if Lily had transferred her life force to Harry in order to blanket him in her magic and then willed her magic into a shield. She jumped up from her seat amid the many books and practically jumped for her fireplace; she needed to see Harry.

_Lily watched proudly as her favourite professor turned mentor figured out what she had done. She had known that she would from the first day Minerva had vowed to, and she had been afraid that she would react badly, that she would be disgusted by what she had done. She needn't have worried, not for such a silly reason, if anyone were going to react badly it would be Sirius, she knew that, he was very sensitive to Dark magic because of his families involvement in it. _

_He would understand though, they all would; that was what kept her going. They all had Harry's best interests at heart, and that meant that they would understand why she had done it and why she hadn't told anyone. _

_Harry… her beautiful child, he had grown so very much. He would be going to Hogwarts soon, and she hoped he would meet Hermione as she desperately needed a friend. Harry was more than she had expected him to be, at least at his age, he was a very gifted child. Though he needed to be encouraged into actually studying, he had a knack for practical magic, more often than not getting spells correct on the first try. He was a Parselmouth, which she had not expected, and had already amassed a large menagerie of snakes in the Manor. _

_She had laughed so much when he had first revealed the ability; Sirius had stood there for about a minute before fleeing the room, Remus had just stared at him, and James had laughed and hugged him; just what she would have done. _

_Sirius had of course accepted the gift, though it had taken him some getting used to. Good thing to, or she would have found a way to hit him for his behaviour; after all, she counted that as something stupid._

Albus startled out of his chair in Potter Manor so hard that he fell out of it; to the endless amusement of the ten year old before him. That was the scene that Minerva flooed into; Albus sprawled on the floor looking bemused and Harry Potter rolling around, clutching his stomach with tears running down his face.

"Albus, what are you doing on the floor?" the seemingly innocent comment, though she knew perfectly well why he was in such a state, sent the nearly recovered Harry into another fit of uncontrollable giggles. Albus glowered up at her, though his expression cleared almost instantly, the both of them revelling in his laughter.

"I was merely startled my dear." He struggled to his feet, feeling rather undignified, "Was there something you needed?" He knew that Minerva wasn't the sort to simply drop by unannounced without a cause.

"I may have figured out why Lily is still around." It had been decided that they weren't going to hide the situation from Harry, after all he had seen lily more than anyone else, and he remembered the night that the tragedy occurred; it would be cruel to deny him the truth, "I believe she used a type of Soul magic."

To say that Albus was shocked would be an understatement; Soul magic was closely related, and sometimes mistaken, for Dark magic.

"Are you sure?" the urgency in his tone was surprising to even Minerva.

"Yes, I wouldn't suggest it if I wasn't sure." Of course she wouldn't, if it got out that Lily Potter had used Soul magic it would cause a riot! Some people would be fine with it, but others would call for her Order of Merlin to be removed on the grounds of Dark magic being used.

Harry was still sitting on the carpet, looking up at the two people who he saw as Grandparents in his strange family unit, and was utterly confused. He knew they were talking about his mum, but what was Soul magic?

It was her eleventh birthday. She felt a knot in her stomach, one that she had felt her entire life, tightening, coiling; anticipation. She could feel that something was coming, that something was going to happen… she just didn't know what.

Her door banged open, the noise startling her from gazing into the mirror; she spun around to face her mother. Hermione couldn't help but feel wistful of the relationship she used to have with this woman; she used to be able to talk to her about anything; no matter what it was about. Now-a-days she couldn't talk to her about anything; she just didn't trust her anymore.

"Hermione, come down stairs; I've made your favourite for breakfast!" the smile on the woman's face was disconcerting, and the fact that in her mind she had become just a woman that she lived with was even more so. Sighing, Hermione nodded and followed her downstairs.

She stared at the plate in front of her; pancakes. She fought the need to scowl angrily; they might have been her favourite when she was five, but now she much preferred bacon, eggs and toast with a cup of tea. The fact that she didn't know that showed her just how much the woman really cared about what she liked.

Not at all.

_Lily had to fight back tears at the sadness in the girl's eyes; no one should cause a child sadness, especially that child's parents. How a mother could allow herself to become so detached from her child's life that the child didn't even recognise her as a mother anymore. Sighing, Lily stood up from her position on the floor by the orb, and walked towards the library, she still had research to do. _

_She still needed to find a way to control the way she interacted with the living realm, instead of letting it control her; but she was beginning to doubt it was possible. She closed her eyes, resting her forehead upon the tome she had picked up, oh how she wished she could go to Hermione, gather her in her arms and comfort her._

_The rushing noise was faint, but it was there, and startling. The orb was still, just the way she had left it. Hesitantly, she stepped back towards the orb, staring at it intensely; she could see Hermione, staring at herself in her room once again, and again felt the strong urge to hug her. Faster now, she walked to the orb, and knelt beside it; pressing her hands against the slightly warm surface._

_The once solid orb began to soften under her palms, her fingers sliding through the now misty surface. Not daring to believe her luck, she pressed herself against the orb, sliding through it._

_When she next opened her eyes, she was inside the bedroom she had often admired; the pale blue walls and white comforter on the bed telling her exactly where she was. Hermione was sitting at her desk, not working as she usually would be, but staring at her reflection in the mirror hung above the desk._

Hermione hated her hair. It was all she could see when she looked at herself, and it reminded her of her mother. Hermione's skin went cold, then warm causing her to glance around her room.

_Lily wrapped her arms around the girl, her feelings of comfort allowing her arms the solidity she needed to hug her. Hermione moved, glancing around, Lily held back a laugh; this girl really was intelligent._

_"I won't hurt you."_

Hermione started, the voice was right by her ear; the warmth that was surrounding her suddenly made sense to her fantastic mind. The feelings of comfort she had felt as a young child, the presence that had kept her company in the woods when she ran away from the bullies at school. She was here, Hermione didn't know who it was, but she just knew it was a woman, and she was more of a mother to her than her real one ever would be.

"I know." Hermione allowed herself to sit there, imagining being hugged and the tears started to fall.


	10. Chapter 10

Fast update this time, since this wouldn't get out of my head! :) Hope you all like it, the reviews I get are massively encouraging, so thank you. :)

Enjoy!

Harry stood in front of the train that would take him to Hogwarts, and he just stared. He was terrified. He could see kids congregating around the doors to the train, and leaning so far out windows that he was afraid he was about to witness someone die, and kids like him standing so close to their parents that they looked like they were the one being. He bet that he looked ridiculous; sticking to his dad and uncles the way he was. He couldn't help it though; he was scared and didn't know what he was feeling.

He could feel something was coming, there was something about to happen but he didn't know what. His mind went to the dream he had had the night before; it was the same dream as he had always had, the pretty girl had not moved and hadn't responded to him. But at the very end she had looked at him.

_He was about to give up, about to start trying to wake up, when she looked at him. Her eyes were brown at first glance, but they held glints of gold within their depths, but what struck him was the tortured look in them. Her face was lined in a way that no one her age should be. Her lips were quivering as she stared at him, her beautiful eyes filling with tears._

_"Help me…" her voice was soft, and it faded as she turned and ran away from him._

He had tried to follow her, but had woken up tangled in his sheets as he usually did. He was anticipating Hogwarts; would she be here? Why did she need help? Could he help her? Harry didn't really know if he would be able to, she looked so sad; but he would try. His back straightened, eyes hardened in determination; he would find her one day, and he would help her, no matter what he had to do.

Strange warmth filled his chest and he had the strong, uncontrollable urge to look towards the entrance to the Muggle world. His breath caught in his throat as he froze. There she was, she was even more beautiful in real life, her hair was just as bushy and her form was just as slight; but she radiated a strength that he knew he didn't have. A hand on his shoulder broke him out of his thoughts.

"C'mon Harry, you don't want to miss the train!" He smiled up at his dad, his happiness infectious. Knowing he wouldn't be able to talk to his dad face to face while he was at school was daunting to him, he had never had to go a day without talking to his dad about things; he knew that he would be able to write to him, he had a brand new snowy owl called Hedwig for that, but he would miss his family.

Little did he know that there was someone who felt the complete opposite.

Hermione glared at the woman before her, how she dared to even come to see her off after the way she had reacted to her being a witch she didn't know, but she shouldn't have. Her so called mother had blown her top when Professor McGonagall had turned up at their front door talking about magic.

_"This simply isn't possible!" Emma Granger screamed her hair wild "Magic is not real, and Hermione is sick! Don't fill her head with this nonsense!" her dad stepped towards her, hands up in a calming manner as though he were approaching a raging bull, though honestly that's what she looked like to Hermione; Professor McGonagall was standing in the middle of the living room her mouth in a thin line._

_"Emma, you can't change who she is, and this explains why she had trouble making friends growing up; this is a good thing." Hermione felt tears well in her eyes hearing that, her daddy had always loved her._

_"No! This is not a good thing! She had trouble making friends growing up because she was weird!" Hermione flinched and stopped listening as her parents began screaming at each other._

She took a deep breath as she stared at the train before her; this was her freedom. This was her escape from her family, from her friendless childhood. Surely she would make friends here, among her own kind. Her chest began to warm, and she looked around, but she didn't see anything except for swarms of families trying to keep track of their children.

With a shrug, she turned to her dad, giving him a hug.

"I'll miss you; I want you to know that." His eyes were sad, tears brimming in their depths, showing her that he wasn't lying to her. He glanced towards his wife, who was standing stiff beside him making no indication that she intended to say goodbye. He went to open his mouth.

"Its okay daddy, don't waste your time." Hermione had long since given up "I'll miss you too." She turned around and ran towards the train; dragging her trunk behind her. She paused at the entrance to the train, glancing behind her just long enough to see her daddy dragging her mother to the back of the crowd, whispering the whole way. Sniffing, she rushed to find herself a compartment.

The hall was wider than she had expected it to be, though she supposed there was some form of magic that allowed that to happen, and the compartment doors were all still open; but they were occupied by various amounts of people. Some teenagers peered out of one of them, reminding her that Hogwarts students could be as old as 17 or 18. Gulping and suddenly far more nervous she rushed further along the train; near the back she found a compartment that was empty. Almost sobbing with relief she hurriedly stepped inside; spying the rack above the seats, she attempted to put her trunk away on it.

Struggling to even lift the trunk above her knees, she gave up, slumping onto the floor with the trunk across her lap. Tears that she couldn't even feel were sliding across her cheeks, hitting her lips and falling onto her pale blue skirt, soaking in and leaving dark spots; solidify her sadness to her own eyes.

She pushed the trunk off of her, and pulled her knees up to her chest, burying her head in them.

Harry moved down the train with a purpose, he was following the feeling. He could feel her; she was warm and comfortable and so he was seeking her out. He could feel where she was; so he was following it to her. He came to a compartment near the end of the train, and his heart broke when he looked inside.

She was sitting on the floor, her face buried in her knees, and her trunk beside her. Her bushy hair was framing her in a way that he found strikingly sad and beautiful at the same time, her slim shoulders were shaking and he could tell she was crying. She shouldn't be crying.

He opened the door, the noise causing her head to snap up, her eyes took his breath away; even red and puffy they were glowing with emotion.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" she looked at him warily, and it struck him that she was afraid of him. "I'm not going to hurt you or anything, I just want to help." he sat down across from her, offering her a comforting smile. She lowered her knees, and smiled hesitantly.

"My mum hates me…" Her voice was softer than he imagined it would be, but it suited her. What she said concerned him though.

"Why do you think that?" he made sure to keep his voice soft, like his dad did when he was upset.

"She thinks I'm weird and mentally ill…" Harry sucked in a breath; he knew what that was even if he wasn't raised in the Muggle world. "I'm not! I just have trouble making friends, but she just wouldn't listen to me. She dragged me to a damn shrink! There wasn't anything wrong with me, but she was convinced there was, and then we found out I was a Witch, which was nearly a year ago, and she just wouldn't accept it! I don't even know why she came today to see me off, I know that she doesn't care, I haven't even thought of her as my mother in years!" she was panting by the time she had finished speaking, and has risen up from sitting on the floor to kneeling.

"Well, I don't know why she did that but I don't think there's anything wrong with you, my dad says that some people just make friends better than others, and that some people are just waiting on the right friends to come along." She smiled at him, and Harry felt like he had finally really done something good.

"Thanks… I'm Hermione Granger."

"Harry Potter, and no problem, a pretty girl shouldn't cry." The blush that stained her cheeks was the most adorable thing he had ever seen.

"I-I'm not pretty…" Harry frowned.

"Why not?"

"Well, my hair is bushy and my eyes are boring and I have horrid buck teeth." She exaggerated a big toothed smile to show him.

"They aren't that bad, and if you don't like them you can have them fixed, and your hair has character; I like it. Your eyes are really pretty Hermione, their gold." It was obvious he had said the right thing by the beaming smile she was giving him.

"I can get my teeth fixed? How?" Harry smiled, nodding, and sat back against the seat.

"Sure you can! Magic can fix pretty much everything really; your teeth can be fixed by a spell that can shave them down to whatever size you want. You can fix your hair too if you wanted." He laughed at her eager expression "It's called Sleekeasy's Potion, the most common type of it isn't permanent, but you can get it in different strengths."

"Wow! Magic is amazing!" her face was practically glowing with happiness and Harry basked in the glow of having been the reason for it. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can."

"What House do you think you'll be in?"

"Dad thinks I'll be in Gryffindor, like him, but I don't know. I think I'd like Gryffindor or Ravenclaw; what about you?" he smiled at her encouragingly.

"I think I'll be in Ravenclaw, I really like to read, but I don't really know." She smiled "Why is there such a prejudice against Slytherin?"

"Well, there was a really bad wizard that was in Slytherin, and he killed a lot of people, so that kind of spread into the ideals of that house, even though originally Slytherin stood for Cunning and Ambition, neither of which are bad, but now everyone thinks it stands for blood purity."

"Oh…that's kind of stupid." Harry looked up at her, finding her eyes hardened and her face set in incredulity. "Why would a whole society change opinions based on one person's actions?"

"I don't know… I've always found it rather funny too." She nodded sagely at him, and looked to the window, before looking back to him.

"What about Hufflepuff?"

"Oh, that's a good house; the loyal and hard-working go there. I wouldn't mind being in that house, Professor Sprout, that's the head of Hufflepuff, it supposed to be super nice too." Harry really wouldn't mind that house, even though all the people he had grown up with were Gryffindors.

"That does sound nice." Hermione's smile really was the prettiest thing he had ever seen, he decided.

"Yeah, I have a friend, Neville, who might end up there; He's awesome."

For the rest of the train ride, they sat there on the floor getting to know each other. No one else came in, and they didn't go out. When the Trolley Lady came around, they bought sweets to share, and when they needed to change, Harry closed his eyes and then Hermione closed hers.

By the time the train pulled into Hogsmeade, a legendary friendship had started.


End file.
